Fresh from the first Pro12 and Heineken Cup starts of his career, fly-half Jack Carty is already being tipped as one of next big things in Irish rugby.
But it was very nearly football, and not rugby, that the Connacht fly-half wanted to make of a go of as a career.
An Irish schoolboy soccer international, Carty even crossed the Irish Sea for trials in England before opting for rugby.
But after his impressive first career start in the No.10 jersey against Leinster a fortnight ago, the Sportsground faithful will be delighted that Carty made the choice he did.
“I played all three sports at school including Gaelic,” he told The Rugby Paper. “I don’t really come from a rugby family at all and at school it was soccer that I enjoyed the most.
“That was the one I played mostly as a kid. I represented Ireland U15 and U16 and went over to England for a trial with Southampton when I thought I might have a chance of making it.
“I played some Gaelic as well but by the time I came to leave school, my family and I thought rugby would be the best option.”
And so it proved as Carty represented Ireland U20 in the 2012 IRB World Junior Championship.
There the fly-half split game time with Munster‘s JJ Hanrahan as the Men in Green impressed with a fifth-place finish.
Carty said: “I hadn’t been involved in the U20 Six Nations that year but I was lucky to get the call for the JWC and it was a great experience.
“We could have possibly done even better than fifth, considering we beat South Africa in the group stages and they ended up winning the whole thing.”
The man from Athlone, like his teammate Robbie Henshaw, failed to kick on last season with Connacht, restricted to only two appearances from the bench under Eric Elwood.
This season the squad make-up made it hard to see how Carty was going to make his breakthrough with three fly-halves seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.
But with Miah Nikora and Craig Ronaldson struggling with injury it has been left for Carty to battle it out with Dan Parks for the No.10 shirt.
And of late it has been Carty who has been running the show, first against Leinster and then in their win over Zebre in last week’s Heineken Cup win.
And in this the final year of his academy contract, the fly-half is relishing his opportunity to impress.
Carty added: “Pat has made it clear that he wants to give the younger guys a chance which is great.
“I know what a competitive position fly-half is here, so chances to impress will be few and far between and I have to make the most of any I get.
“And I thought I did that against Leinster. I didn’t want to try and do too much, just limit my mistakes and be solid.”
On the face of it, Connacht are not enjoying the best of seasons sitting bottom of the Pro12, with even Zebre above them.
But after Carty helped engineer the 17-point win over their Italian rivals in the Heineken Cup, the fly-half insists change was needed and will bear fruit.
“It may not look it from the outside, but we are making progress,” he said.
“There are always changes when a new coach comes in and with the shifts we have made we knew it would take time.
“But they are the sort of big decisions that will help us in the long term.”
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